Athenian Stranger. Next, with the help of the Delphian oracle, wehave to institute festivals and make laws about them, and to determinewhat sacrifices will be for the good of the city, and to what Godsthey shall be offered; but when they shall be offered, and howoften, may be partly regulated by us.
Cleinias. The number-yes.
Ath. Then we will first determine the number; and let the wholenumber be 365-one for every day-so that one magistrate at least willsacrifice daily to some God or demi-god on behalf of the city, and thecitizens, and their possessions. And the interpreters, and priests,and priestesses, and prophets shall meet, and, in company with theguardians of the law, ordain those things which the legislator ofnecessity omits; and I may remark that they are the very persons whoought to take note of what is omitted. The law will say that there aretwelve feasts dedicated to the twelve Gods, after whom the severaltribes are named; and that to each of them they shall sacrificeevery month, and appoint choruses, and musical and gymnastic contests,assigning them so as to suit the Gods and seasons of the year. Andthey shall have festivals for women, distinguishing those whichought to be separated from the men"s festivals, and those whichought not. Further, they shall not confuse the infernal deities andtheir rites with the Gods who are termed heavenly and their rites, butshall separate them, giving to Pluto his own in the twelfth month,which is sacred to him, according to the law. To such a deitywarlike men should entertain no aversion, but they should honour himas being always the best friend of man. For the connection of soul andbody is no way better than the dissolution of them, as I am ready tomaintain quite seriously. Moreover, those who would regulate thesematters rightly should consider, that our city among existing citieshas fellow, either in respect of leisure or comin and of thenecessaries of life, and that like an individual she ought to livehappily. And those who would live happily should in the first place dono wrong to one another, and ought not themselves to be wronged byothers; to attain the first is not difficult, but there is greatdifficulty, in acquiring the power of not being wronged. No man can beperfectly secure against wrong, unless he has become perfectly good;and cities are like individuals in this, for a city if good has a lifeof peace, but if evil, a life of war within and without. Wherefore thecitizens ought to practise war-not in time of war, but rather whilethey are at peace. And every city which has any sense, should take thefield at least for one day in every month; and for more if themagistrates think fit, having no regard to winter cold or summer heat;and they should go out en masse, including their wives and theirchildren, when the magistrates determine to lead forth the wholepeople, or in separate portions when summoned by them; and they shouldalways provide that there should be games and sacrificial feasts,and they should have tournaments, imitating in as lively a manner asthey can real battles. And they should distribute prizes of victoryand valour to the competitors, passing censures and encomiums on oneanother according to the characters which they bear in the contestsand their whole life, honouring him who seems to be the best, andblaming him who is the opposite. And let poets celebrate thevictors-not however every poet, but only one who in the first place isnot less than fifty years of age; nor should he be one who, althoughhe may have musical and poetical gifts, has never in his life done anynoble or illustrious action; but those who are themselves good andalso honourable in the state, creators of noble actions-let theirpoems be sung, even though they be not very musical. And let thejudgment of them rest with the instructor of youth and the otherguardians of the laws, who shall give them this privilege, and theyalone shall be free to sing; but the rest of the world shall nothave this liberty. Nor shall any one dare to sing a song which has notbeen approved by the judgment of the guardians of the laws, not evenif his strain be sweeter than the songs of Thamyras and Orpheus; butonly and Orpheus; but only such poems as have been judged sacred anddedicated to the Gods, and such as are the works of good men, whichpraise of blame has been awarded and which have been deemed tofulfil their design fairly.
The regulations about and about liberty of speech in poitry, oughtto apply equally to men and women. The legislator may be supposed toargue the question in his own mind:-Who are my citizens for whom Ihave set in order the city? Are they not competitors in the greatestof all contests, and have they not innumerable rivals? To be sure,will be the natural, reply. Well, but if we were training boxers, orpancratiasts, or any other sort of athletes, would they never meetuntil the hour of contest arrived; and should we do nothing to prepareourselves previously by daily practice? Surely, if we were boxers weshould have been learning to fight for many days before, andexercising ourselves in imitating all those blows and wards which wewere intending to use in the hour of conflict; and in order that wemight come as near to reality as possible, instead of cestuses weshould put on boxing gloves, that the blows and the wards might bepractised by us to the utmost of our power. And if there were a lackof competitors, the ridicule of fools would ryot deter us from hangingup a lifeless image and practising at that. Or if we had noadversary at all, animate or inanimate, should we not venture in thedearth of antagonists to spar by ourselves? In what other manner couldwe ever study the art of self-defence?
Cle. The way which you mention Stranger, would be the only way.
